The long-time dysfunctional traffic lights at the Tri-Star intersection of Union, Tatham and Karel Landman Streets have been a bone of contention for a long time now, but some reprieve for local motorists may be in the pipeline.
Endumeni Municipality’s electricians have decided to tackle the problem – exacerbated by morning and afternoon school traffic that picked up when schools re-opened last Wednesday.
These traffic lights, in conjunction with the set at the Dundee Boulevard entrance in Karel Landman Street, were supposed to be connected with each other and to work in a pre-set cycle, but the lights had never been fully installed. The work was done by a contractor hired by the KZN Department of Transport.
The municipal electricians who were working on the Gray Street traffic light, showed the Courier the unconnected wires belonging to the light still lying loose on the road.
According to the electricians, the lights are not working as they should.
The two sets of lights are supposed to work in co-ordination with each other to ensure motorists a ‘free drive’ through Karel Landman, turning red only when a vehicle approaches one of the four joining intersections.
“These traffic lights are not our responsibility and we are tired of being blamed for them not working all the time,” said one of them when approached by the Courier.
Apparently these lights are the responsibility of the Department of Transport, but since the last contractor who had worked on it left for Durban, nobody has bothered to fix the lights – until now.